Mehbooba summons victim families to offer condolences

Srinagar: Instead of visiting the families of youth, who became victims of “disproportionate” use of live ammunition by government forces, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday summoned family members of some victims to Dak Bungalow in Anantnag to offer her condolences.
The visit is a replica of her immediate response in the aftermath of killing of five persons including a woman by army and police in Handwara and Kupwara in April this month.
While the visit paid off as far as government’s bid to restore normalcy was concerned three months back, only time will tell whether the measure will impact ground situation in the Valley in general and in Anantnag in particular.
An official spokesman here said that Mehbooba expressed her grief and anguish over the loss of precious human lives, especially the youth and assured every possible help to the affected families.
She said it was painful to note that these children who have become the victims of the senseless violence belong to the poorest of the poor families.
The Chief Minister, the spokesman said, interacted with the parents of the deceased youth and said she was pained to see the trauma they are undergoing due to the loss of their near and dear ones.
The Chief Minister said while certain quarters are only interested in playing politics over the dead bodies of the youth, it is the victim families who have to live with the pain forever. “Ironically, it is only the parents and other immediate family members of these ill-fated youth who have to live with the life-long trauma of losing their near and dear ones to this senseless violence,” she said.
There are hundreds of such families in Kashmir today who have lost their near and dear ones to the violence, she said.
“Most of these families are living in such miserable conditions that they have to even struggle for day-to-day living,” she said, adding that while hundreds and thousands of people may be attending the funerals of the slain youth, “tell me how many of these people then bother to visit these anguished families to help them out of difficult circumstances.”
She said the Government is, however, alive to the abject condition of such distressed families. “We will try to work out a mechanism to ensure a secure and dignified living for the kith and kin of the victims of violence so that their families don’t have to run from pillar to post to live a normal life,” she said and maintained that responsibility of the Government was to reach out to such families.
“Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, Syed Abid Rashid and other officers of the district administration also accompanied the Chief Minister,” the spokesman said, apparently to give an impression that Mehbooba and the officials visited the families to their residences. The statement is also silent about the persons whom she “visited” as also about the identity of deceased. It could also not be immediately ascertained as to how the two women and a male, who met her, were persuaded as her government imposed strict curfew in the Valley.

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Launched in May 2012, Kashmir Reader is one of the leading English language newspapers of Jammu and Kashmir. It’s published daily from Srinagar by Helpline Group, which earned a name and fame in serious journalism